HONG KONG (Reuters) - Hong Kong smokers have been lighting
up 12 million more cigarettes a month since the city imposed a
public-smoking ban a year ago, a newspaper said on Wednesday.

Hong Kong's Customs and Excise Department said it had
collected duty on an average of 289.6 million cigarettes
monthly in 2007, compared with 278 million per month in 2006.

The figures suggest that Hong Kong people were smoking 12
million more cigarettes a month, despite a ban on January 1
last year on smoking in most public places.

"I think the smoking ban can prevent second-hand smoke in
public places ... but to motivate people to quit, the
government still has a long way to go," medical sector
legislator Kwok Ka-ki was quoted as saying by the South China
Morning Post.

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The anti-smoking laws brought Hong Kong, a city of seven
million, in line with several countries that have banned
smoking in most public places. Germany and France introduced
bans on Tuesday.

Hong Kong's growing population and the low price of
cigarettes were cited as factors for increased tobacco use.

"The price of cigarettes and tobacco has not increased for
seven years," Anthony Hedley, an anti-smoking campaigner with
the University of Hong Kong, told the Post.

Hong Kong has around 840,000 smokers according to
government figures.

Smokers in China, which took back control of Hong Kong from
Britain in 1997, are the world's most enthusiastic, with a
growing market of more than 300 million making it a magnet for
cigarette companies.